Abstract: This paper proposes a new procedure for analyzing means-end chain data in marketing research. Most commonly the collected data is summarized in the Hierarchical Value Map (HVM) illustrating the main attribute-consequence-value linkages. This paper argues that traditionally constructed HVM may give an erroneous impression of the results of a means-end study. To justify the arguments, an alternative procedure to (1) determine the dominant attribute-consequence-value linkages and (2) construct HVM in a precise manner is presented. The current approach makes a contribution to means-end analysis, allowing marketers to address a set of marketing problems, such as advertising strategy.
Abstract: Nowaday-s, many organizations use systems that
support business process as a whole or partially. However, in some
application domains, like software development and health care
processes, a normative Process Aware System (PAS) is not suitable,
because a flexible support is needed to respond rapidly to new
process models. On the other hand, a flexible Process Aware System
may be vulnerable to undesirable and fraudulent executions, which
imposes a tradeoff between flexibility and security. In order to make
this tradeoff available, a genetic-based anomaly detection model for
logs of Process Aware Systems is presented in this paper. The
detection of an anomalous trace is based on discovering an
appropriate process model by using genetic process mining and
detecting traces that do not fit the appropriate model as anomalous
trace; therefore, when used in PAS, this model is an automated
solution that can support coexistence of flexibility and security.
Abstract: This paper describes an interfacing of C and the
TMS320C6713 assembly language which is crucially important for
many real-time applications. Similarly, interfacing of C with the
assembly language of a conventional microprocessor such as
MC68000 is presented for comparison. However, it should be noted
that the way the C compiler passes arguments among various
functions in the TMS320C6713-based environment is totally
different from the way the C compiler passes arguments in a
conventional microprocessor such as MC68000. Therefore, it is very
important for a user of the TMS320C6713-based system to properly
understand and follow the register conventions when interfacing C
with the TMS320C6713 assembly language subroutine. It should be
also noted that in some cases (examples 6-9) the endian-mode of the
board needs to be taken into consideration. In this paper, one method
is presented in great detail. Other methods will be presented in the
future.
Abstract: Nejad and Mashinchi (2011) proposed a revision for ranking fuzzy numbers based on the areas of the left and the right sides of a fuzzy number. However, this method still has some shortcomings such as lack of discriminative power to rank similar fuzzy numbers and no guarantee the consistency between the ranking of fuzzy numbers and the ranking of their images. To overcome these drawbacks, we propose an epsilon-deviation degree method based on the left area and the right area of a fuzzy number, and the concept of the centroid point. The main advantage of the new approach is the development of an innovative index value which can be used to consistently evaluate and rank fuzzy numbers. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the efficiency and superiority of the proposed method.
Abstract: Research in distributed artificial intelligence and multiagent systems consider how a set of distributed entities can interact and coordinate their actions in order to solve a given problem. In this paper an overview of this concept and its evolution is presented particularly its application in the design of intelligent tutoring systems. An intelligent tutor based on the concept of agent and centered specifically on the design of a pedagogue agent is illustrated. Our work has two goals: the first one concerns the architecture aspect and the design of a tutor using multiagent approach. The second one deals particularly with the design of a part of a tutor system: the pedagogue agent.
Abstract: Land shortage for burials is one of many issues that emerge out of accelerated urban growth in most developing Asian cities, including Kuala Lumpur. Despite actions taken by the federal government and local authorities in addressing this issue, there is no strategic solution being formulated. Apart from making provisions for land to be developed as new cemeteries, the future plan is merely to allocate reserve land to accommodate the increasing demands of burial grounds around the city. This paper examines problems that arise from the traditional practices of Malay funerary as well as an insight to current urban practices in managing Muslim burial spaces around Kuala Lumpur metropolitan region. This paper will also provide some solutions through design approach that can be applied to counter the existing issues.
Abstract: A perfect secret-sharing scheme is a method to distribute a secret among a set of participants in such a way that only qualified subsets of participants can recover the secret and the joint share of participants in any unqualified subset is statistically independent of the secret. The collection of all qualified subsets is called the access structure of the perfect secret-sharing scheme. In a graph-based access structure, each vertex of a graph G represents a participant and each edge of G represents a minimal qualified subset. The average information ratio of a perfect secret-sharing scheme realizing the access structure based on G is defined as AR = (Pv2V (G) H(v))/(|V (G)|H(s)), where s is the secret and v is the share of v, both are random variables from and H is the Shannon entropy. The infimum of the average information ratio of all possible perfect secret-sharing schemes realizing a given access structure is called the optimal average information ratio of that access structure. Most known results about the optimal average information ratio give upper bounds or lower bounds on it. In this present structures based on bipartite graphs and determine the exact values of the optimal average information ratio of some infinite classes of them.
Abstract: Understanding patient factors related to physical activity behavior is important in the management of Type 2 Diabetes. This study applied the Theory of Planned Behavior model to understand physical activity behavior among sampled Type 2 diabetics in Kenya. The study was conducted within the diabetic clinic at Kisii Level 5 Hospital and adopted sequential mixed methods design beginning with qualitative phase and ending with quantitative phase. Qualitative data was analyzed using grounded theory analysis method. Structural equation modeling using maximum likelihood was used to analyze quantitative data. The common fit indices revealed that the theory of planned behavior fitted the data acceptably well among the Type 2 diabetes and within physical activity behavior {¤ç2 = 213, df = 84, n=230, p = .061, ¤ç2/df = 2.53; TLI = .97; CFI =.96; RMSEA (90CI) = .073(.029, .08)}. This theory proved to be useful in understanding physical activity behavior among Type 2 diabetics.
Abstract: In this paper, a novel adaptive fuzzy sliding mode
control method is proposed for the robust tracking control of robotic
manipulators. The proposed controller possesses the advantages of
adaptive control, fuzzy control, and sliding mode control. First, system
stability and robustness are guaranteed based on the sliding mode
control. Further, fuzzy rules are developed incorporating with
adaptation law to alleviate the input chattering effectively. Stability of
the control system is proven by using the Lyapunov method. An
application to a three-degree-of-freedom robotic manipulator is
carried out. Accurate trajectory tracking as well as robustness is
achieved. Input chattering is greatly eliminated.
Abstract: S-Curves are commonly used in technology forecasting. They show the paths of product performance in relation to time or investment in R&D. It is a useful tool to describe the inflection points and the limit of improvement of a technology. Companies use this information to base their innovation strategies.
However inadequate use and some limitations of this technique lead
to problems in decision making. In this paper first technology
forecasting and its importance for company level strategies will be
discussed. Secondly the S-Curve and its place among other
forecasting techniques will be introduced. Thirdly its use in
technology forecasting will be discussed based on its advantages,
disadvantages and limitations. Finally an application of S-curve on
3D TV technology using patent data will also be presented and the
results will be discussed.
Abstract: In this paper we present the first Arabic sentence
dataset for on-line handwriting recognition written on tablet pc. The
dataset is natural, simple and clear. Texts are sampled from daily
newspapers. To collect naturally written handwriting, forms are
dictated to writers. The current version of our dataset includes 154
paragraphs written by 48 writers. It contains more than 3800 words
and more than 19,400 characters. Handwritten texts are mainly
written by researchers from different research centers. In order to use
this dataset in a recognition system word extraction is needed. In this
paper a new word extraction technique based on the Arabic
handwriting cursive nature is also presented. The technique is applied
to this dataset and good results are obtained. The results can be
considered as a bench mark for future research to be compared with.
Abstract: The genetic algorithm (GA) based solution techniques
are found suitable for optimization because of their ability of
simultaneous multidimensional search. Many GA-variants have been
tried in the past to solve optimal power flow (OPF), one of the
nonlinear problems of electric power system. The issues like
convergence speed and accuracy of the optimal solution obtained
after number of generations using GA techniques and handling
system constraints in OPF are subjects of discussion. The results
obtained for GA-Fuzzy OPF on various power systems have shown
faster convergence and lesser generation costs as compared to other
approaches. This paper presents an enhanced GA-Fuzzy OPF (EGAOPF)
using penalty factors to handle line flow constraints and load
bus voltage limits for both normal network and contingency case
with congestion. In addition to crossover and mutation rate
adaptation scheme that adapts crossover and mutation probabilities
for each generation based on fitness values of previous generations, a
block swap operator is also incorporated in proposed EGA-OPF. The
line flow limits and load bus voltage magnitude limits are handled by
incorporating line overflow and load voltage penalty factors
respectively in each chromosome fitness function. The effects of
different penalty factors settings are also analyzed under contingent
state.
Abstract: This paper presents the system identification by
physical-s law method and designs the controller for the Azimuth
Angle Control of the Platform of the Multi-Launcher Rocket System
(MLRS) by Root Locus technique. The plant mathematical model
was approximated using MATLAB for simulation and analyze the
system. The controller proposes the implementation of PID
Controller using Programmable Logic Control (PLC) for control the
plant. PID Controllers are widely applicable in industrial sectors and
can be set up easily and operate optimally for enhanced productivity,
improved quality and reduce maintenance requirement. The results
from simulation and experiments show that the proposed a PID
Controller to control the elevation angle that has superior control
performance by the setting time less than 12 sec, the rise time less
than 1.6 sec., and zero steady state. Furthermore, the system has a
high over shoot that will be continue development.
Abstract: Simulation accuracy by recent dynamic vehicle
simulation multidimensional expression significantly has progressed
and acceptable results not only for passive vehicles but also for
active vehicles normally equipped with advanced electronic
components is also provided. Recently, one of the subjects that has it
been considered, is increasing the safety car in design. Therefore,
many efforts have been done to increase vehicle stability especially
in the turn. One of the most important efforts is adjusting the camber
angle in the car suspension system. Optimum control camber angle in
addition to the vehicle stability is effective in the wheel adhesion on
road, reducing rubber abrasion and acceleration and braking. Since
the increase or decrease in the camber angle impacts on the stability
of vehicles, in this paper, a car suspension system mechanism is
introduced that could be adjust camber angle and the mechanism is
application and also inexpensive. In order to reach this purpose, in
this paper, a passive double wishbone suspension system with
variable camber angle is introduced and then variable camber
mechanism designed and analyzed for study the designed system
performance, this mechanism is modeled in Visual Nastran software
and kinematic analysis is revealed.
Abstract: In this paper, a nonlinear acoustic echo cancellation
(AEC) system is proposed, whereby 3rd order Volterra filtering is
utilized along with a variable step-size Gauss-Seidel pseudo affine
projection (VSSGS-PAP) algorithm. In particular, the proposed
nonlinear AEC system is developed by considering a double-talk
situation with near-end signal variation. Simulation results
demonstrate that the proposed approach yields better nonlinear AEC
performance than conventional approaches.
Abstract: This paper introduces a mixed integer programming model to find the optimum development plan for port Anzali. The model minimizes total system costs taking into account both port infrastructure costs and shipping costs. Due to the multipurpose function of the port, the model consists of 1020 decision variables and 2490 constraints. Results of the model determine the optimum number of berths that should be constructed in each period and for each type of cargo. In addition to, the results of sensitivity analysis on port operation quantity provide useful information for managers to choose the best scenario for port planning with the lowest investment risks. Despite all limitations-due to data availability-the model offers a straightforward decision tools to port planners aspiring to achieve optimum port planning steps.
Abstract: The heat storage capacity of concrete in building shells is a major reason for excessively large electricity consumption induced by indoor air conditioning. In this research, the previously developed Smart Temperature Information Material (STIM) is embedded in two groups of exterior wall specimens (the control group contains reinforced concrete exterior walls and the experimental group consists of tiled exterior walls). Long term temperature measurements within the concrete are taken by the embedded STIM. Temperature differences between the control group and the experimental group in walls facing the four cardinal directions (east, west, south, and north) are evaluated. This study aims to provide a basic reference for the design of exterior walls and the selection of heat insulation materials.
Abstract: The weighting exponent m is called the fuzzifier that
can have influence on the clustering performance of fuzzy c-means
(FCM) and mÎ[1.5,2.5] is suggested by Pal and Bezdek [13]. In this
paper, we will discuss the robust properties of FCM and show that the
parameter m will have influence on the robustness of FCM. According
to our analysis, we find that a large m value will make FCM more
robust to noise and outliers. However, if m is larger than the theoretical
upper bound proposed by Yu et al. [14], the sample mean will become
the unique optimizer. Here, we suggest to implement the FCM
algorithm with mÎ[1.5,4] under the restriction when m is smaller
than the theoretical upper bound.
Abstract: In the past few years, the use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) potentially increased in applications such as intrusion detection, forest fire detection, disaster management and battle field. Sensor nodes are generally battery operated low cost devices. The key challenge in the design and operation of WSNs is to prolong the network life time by reducing the energy consumption among sensor nodes. Node clustering is one of the most promising techniques for energy conservation. This paper presents a novel clustering algorithm which maximizes the network lifetime by reducing the number of communication among sensor nodes. This approach also includes new distributed cluster formation technique that enables self-organization of large number of nodes, algorithm for maintaining constant number of clusters by prior selection of cluster head and rotating the role of cluster head to evenly distribute the energy load among all sensor nodes.
Abstract: In the past, there were more researches of recommendation system in applied electronic commerce. However, because all circles promote information technology integrative instruction actively, the quantity of instruction resources website is more and more increasing on the Internet. But there are less website including recommendation service, especially for teachers. This study established an instruction resource recommendation website that analyzed teaching style of teachers, then provided appropriate instruction resources for teachers immediately. We used the questionnaire survey to realize teacher-s suggestions and satisfactions with the instruction resource contents and recommendation results. The study shows: (1)The website used “Transactional Ability Inventory" that realized teacher-s style and provided appropriate instruction resources for teachers in a short time, it reduced the step of data filter. (2)According to the content satisfaction of questionnaire survey, four styles teachers were almost satisfied with the contents of the instruction resources that the website recommended, thus, the conception of developing instruction resources with different teaching style is accepted. (3) According to the recommendation satisfaction of questionnaire survey, four styles teachers were almost satisfied with the recommendation service of the website, thus, the recommendation strategy that provide different results for teachers in different teaching styles is accepted.